Which PS3 Games are the Rarest? Which PS3 Games are the Most Valuable?
As Christmas draws near, we kiwis like to re-embrace the familiar custom of selling old unwanted possessions to fund this year’s Christmas spend. The art of wheeling and dealing is puzzlingly familiar to us all, as if somehow etched into our Kiwi psych. Marketplace negotiation is a universal language here, irrespective of education or any other distinguishing demographic.
Industrious as we kiwis are in this respect, many of us may yet be sitting on a fortune without knowing it. These days, gaming is even more familiar than trading. Sadly, many of us are blissfully unaware that our bedroom closets conceal some of the hottest items on the secondhand gaming market. Retro gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry, with more than half the potential currency lying secluded in storage throughout the globe. Of the high ticket items, one platform is a relatively recent addition.
Sometime during the past year, the PS3 games market reached that critical phase when the “finalists” broke free from the rest of the pack, leaving the “commons” languishing on store shelves throughout the world. While the Commons struggle to break five dollars, the “Rares” now enjoy their elite status in the upper price echelon. However, only the cream de le cream will achieve a three figure price tag, and at this leg of the race, the pack is gravely thin.
A raft of factors determine game price, and the reasons are never identical from one game to another. Some had a mercilessly small production run due to a vote of low confidence from the outset. Others were universally panned and immediately withdrawn from further print. Some games bridge two platform revisions, with one console receiving a more generous quota than the other.
Whatever the reason, a small selection of PS3 games have emerged as market price leaders. If you are fortunate enough to own The Legend of Spyro Dawn of the Dragon on PS3, you can expect a comfortable $150 cash in. Might even fetch $200 if pristine. Siren Blood Curse goes for the same, as does Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Dot Game Heroes. Keep your eyes peeled for a copy of Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, Tornado Outbreak, Azura’s Wrath, and King of Fighters XIII. Also occasionally sighted here in NZ are NCAA Football 14, World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars, Ducktales Remastered, and Jurassic The Hunted.
If you wisely held onto your copy of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Ratchet & Clank Quest for Booty, or Ratchet & Clank Nexus, congratulations: you won’t have to buy this back at three times the price you could purchase it for a year ago. The famed Trilogies and “Collections” (Ratchet, Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, God of War 1 & 2, Prince of Persia, Silent Hill) fluctuate in value, but will certainly join the $100 Club when XBite’s (nzgameshop / ukgameshop / ozgameshop) drip feed of new stock permanently dries up. Some, such as the Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection, are already there.
If you ever spot College Hoops 2K8, Godzilla, Berserk and the Band of the Hawk, Painkiller, The Last Guy, or El Chavo Kart, you are one better than us. That also goes for the English print of AFRIKA. Sealed? Expect an easy grand.
One game we do occasionally see sealed is Nier. But at a mere $130, it is eclipsed by the true heavyweights. Take NBA Elite 11, for example. For a mint copy, you’ll be paying anything up to a gobsmacking $25K (!).
Some other notable mentions which are likely to join the $100 club very soon include The Simpsons Game (PS3 only), Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Need for Speed Carbon, Alice Madness Returns, Leisure Suit Larry, Folklore, Back to the Future, and Top Gun Hard Lock. This list is of course by no means exhaustive.
Before we sign off, we acknowledge the impossibly rare anime and roleplaying games, together with limited edition collector’s bundles, all of which are beyond the scope of this article. We exclude these “impossibles” from our list simply due to the improbability of ever stumbling upon them. That said, we did recently acquire The World’s Third Rarest PS3 Collector’s Edition, and we salute you if you have somehow managed to acquire any of these!
Now that the truth is out, it’s time for you to venture into the attic once more and dust off the cobwebs from your once-loved PS3 collection. You might just unearth a gold mine.
Article by Steve Ayers
